Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1887-02-04
JOAQUIN MILLER ON CALIFORNIA.
Irrigation Needful to Increase Califor-
MAS Agricultural Prosperity.

MAS Agricultural Prosperity.
For forty years the American has
foolishly fought the Mexican methods
Of agriculture. He insisted that nature
would provide the rain. Indeed, 1 once
heard preacher, who was fighting
rather against the priests than for his
followers, insist from the pulpit that it
WAS sinful to irrigate. And his text
was that God sends Ills rain on the
just and the unjust" And so to day /
look away, 800 miles to the south, and
see brown land cleaning and glitter
ing under the precipitate sun, with the
unhappy settlers sweltering in 1O4 de-
grees of heat. Not spear of verdure!
Not sign of any green thing, save the
solemn and impressive old oaks that dot
the boundless scene and shelter the
sheep, and cattle, and pigs. But many
OF the creatures must perish. The val
ley is, of course, sParsely settled. And
how could it be otherwise where we
have farms with 60, 900 acresl
But away over yonder, beyond the
rapital, lies the less fertile valley of San
Joaquin, green. fruitful, restful; beauti-
full and bountiful as in middle May.
An all this because last year the obsti-
nate American idea succumbe to the
Mexican experience of centuries. San
Joaquin valley is irrigated.
A poor French family, escaping from
death. brought letter to friend of
mine near here many years ago and set
tied down on the nearest spot of vacant
ground he could find. And that nearest
spot was four acres of sand and gravel
and chapparal. 1t was so poor and
dusty and dry and withered, men tell
me, that even the rabbits would not live
there. But it was not more poor or
withered than the weary family that
had worked its way here on an old sail
ship coming out from Liverpool for
grain. And so they sat down on these
four dry and dusty heaps of sand and
stone to stay. Let us pass over the
wretchedness of the first year. during
which time the man dug a well, put in
windmill raised rivulet of water,
and then planted his stoneheaps in black
| berries.
Briefly, his four acres is to-day big
fortune. 1t is literally, every inch a
garden And these four acres are all
that this man can handle or cares to
have. His one acre of meadow produces
six crops of alfalfa year. He now has
cows, horses, pigs. In fact, he gets more
out of these four acres of sand and
gravel than my good friend, Gen. Bid
well, gets out of any forty acres of all
his $4,000. And this is the way for
Californians to make California populous
and profitable-to cure the country of
tramps and communists. And now
propose the greatest scheme on this con-
tinent. Look at the map. Like new
moon the vast level valley of the Sacre-
mento sweeps away from this tip of the
upper horn around past the capital, Sac
ramento City, then down to San Fran
cisco. Well, turn the Sacramento river
out of its bed here above Redding and
let it flow down and fill the hungry hol-
low of the moon! Then will the fertility
and eternal richness of Egypt be once
more with us as of old
1t is all very easy. 1 urged this same
thing years ago, have gone over all the
ground, and know what l say. OF
course was laughed at years ago, and
derided as lover of Mexicans, and all
that sort of argument. And even now
one little paper is pounding me for urg-
ing this greatest state measure, ano
charging me with having come up from
Mexico filed with Mexican IDEAS But
time will settle it all my way and show
that am entirely right. 1 am very am
bilious, however, to shorten the time of
suffering for those thirsty and painting
brutes that stand in the burning dust
under the noble old oaks over all these
thousand of square miles down toward
San Francisco
l took horse and rode out over the
hot heaps of "tailings" that lie on the
deserted and worked out mines this
morning. l found the few farmers who
have settled down without first securing
water for irrigation not in good heart.
Things are burning up where they are
not irrigated. But where water flows
all things are rank, and full, and fairly
tropical. And 80 let me put down the
invitation to this, or, indeed, any part OF
California, with this qualification. Settle
almost anywhere, for the land is all rich,
and farm or grow stock, if you can have
water. Otherwise it is too much of a
lottery. You may strike a cheated term
like this, and have ali your apples turned
to ashes.
Thirty years ago, when 1 came here, a
great ditch flooded all the place. Water
was sold at 70 cents per inch at the head
of the sloping mining region. Then il
was sold second. third and fourth time,
at scaling or declining figures, till it flowed
into the Sacramento near this town.
Senator Jones, of Nevada, not long ago
tried to restore the great ditch. But
after investing a great many thousands
he let his noble enterprise stop. And S,
the whole world is simply scorching and
blazing and burning up. Small farmer
who hoped the ditch would be restored
are sitting by helpless and discouraged
And the sight of them makes me caution
here today. The truth is. if all th
country-this side of Arizona, where til,
| oreat rainfall GndS Ito irraits-I,a,,ct ~,